Development of superconducting mixers for THz astronomy

THz Low Noise Mixers for Sub-mm Astronomy

Superconducting THz Detectors and Their Applications in Radio Astronomy

It is common knowledge now that the THz region, loosely defined from 0.1 THz to 10 THz, is rich in scientific and technological opportunities. For example, THz astronomical observations may help answer key questions in the field of astronomy and cosmology. In fact, an entirely new class of galaxy, formed at a very early stage in the universe, has recently been discovered through THz observation...

Application of Superconducting Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers for Terahertz-Band Astronomy

Recently, a next-generation heterodyne mixer detector— a hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer employing a superconducting microbridge—has gradually opened up terahertz-band astronomy. The surrounding state-of-the-art technologies including fabrication processes, 4 K cryostats, cryogenic low-noise amplifiers, local oscillator sources, micromachining techniques, and spectrometers, as well as the HE...

Development of 0.8 THz and 1.5 THz Waveguide NbTiN HEB Mixers

In this paper, we present results on the noise performance of the waveguide Niobium Titanium Nitride (NbTiN) superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers, cryogenically cooled by a 4-K close-cycled refrigerator. The NbTiN superconducting HEB mixer is fabricated on a crystalline quartz substrate, and is mounted in a waveguide mixer block for RF and LO coupling. At 0.81 THz, the uncorrecte...

Development of Focal Plane Arrays Utilizing NbN Hot Electron Bolometric Mixers for the THz Regime

AB STRACT Im prove ments in de vice de vel op ment and quasi-op ti cal cou pling tech niques uti liz ing pla nar an ten nas have led to a sig nif i cant achieve ment in low noise submillimeter wave re cei v ers at pro gres sively higher fre quen cies. Hot Elec tron Bolometric (HEB) re ceiv ers made of thin film super con duct ing films such as NbN have pro duced a vi a ble op tion for in stru m...